Just Need a Hug
by ifiknowyouatall
Summary: Short stories that all involve hugs. Some happy and silly, others sad.
1. Chapter 1

_There was a hug meme on tumblr today. There were a lot of great drabbles that got written because of it. Would recommend checking them out :) These were my contributions. As always, the characters aren't mine, they were created by Shane Brennan. _

3- Densi –Hurt/Comfort (Prompt Credit: Aprylynn)

The hospital room was filled with people, but everyone was afraid to speak. Some might have looked back on her life as a lonely one. No husband, no children of her own to be here in her final days. But she knew better and they knew better. Henrietta Lange hadn't had a biological family, but she had created one just the same. Her misfit island of lost toys was a stronger and tighter knit group than many families tied by blood. But to create that bond, she had sacrificed herself, playing the puppeteer, the puppets often resenting their strings. In the end though, they were all there, because without her, they wouldn't have each other and without each other, they were all worse off.

Eric was slumped on the floor in the corner of the room, hands resting on his knees, head resting on his hands, tears falling silently down his cheeks. Sam had left the room and was in the hallway talking to the doctor. Nell, her arms wrapped around Callen's shoulders from behind, resting her chin on his head as he slouched in an uncomfortable hospital chair, still holding Hetty's hand. Deeks occupied the other chair, Kensi in his lap, arms clinging tightly to her waist. She kissed his head and smoothed his hair as silent sobs caused his body to shake.

After a few minutes, she caught Sam's eye through the glass walls of the hospital wall as he finished talking to the doctor. As Sam entered, she stood silently, grabbing Deeks' hand to lead him out of the room. Standing, he quickly wiped his eyes with his free hand and motioned for Sam to take the chair.

"Does anyone want coffee?" Kensi asked, breaking the silence. Eric and Nell both shook their heads no; Sam nodded and Callen didn't move. Moving out into the hall and around the corner, Kensi stopped walking and pulled Deeks into an alcove.

"You weren't going to talk in there, but you need to talk now. We're all devastated Deeks, but you're holding something back from me. Something's eating at you; I can see it. Please don't revert back to your old communication skills now, not when I need the new version of you the most."

Taking a deep breath, looking down at the floor, unable to look her in the eye. "I was angry with her. Still am a little. She spent the last year taking everything that made me happy, or everything I _thought _made me happy, away from me. It was little things, like the desk or the train set or even my motorcycle and I could brush that off as Hetty being Hetty. And then she took you away. And I know that everyone was just doing the job, but I never stopped being angry. I'm not an angry person, Kens. I try very hard in my life not to be an angry person and yet I couldn't stop myself from being mad and a lot of that rage was directed at her. Even after you got back, I stayed angry. I didn't see it until it was too late that she was just making sure that I could stand on my own two feet, see my own worth, see myself belonging, as an agent, as part of this team, as part of this family. And now she's going to die, thinking that I didn't know that and didn't appreciate her." He couldn't stop the tears from falling. She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as possible and as his knees gave out, she brought them slowly to the floor together, her own cheeks streaked with tears she couldn't stop from falling.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Still not mine. _5_-Tacklehug –Nell/Deeks (Prompt Credit: hermionesmydawg)_

It had started out as a silly bet. The team had been out on a Saturday night after an especially grueling case. On top of having to work a weekend, Hetty had informed them that they would be required to compete in a cross-agency charity event the following weekend. What could only be described as a new and creative way to inflict pain and agony on the team, a combination of the Warrior Challenge and the Great Urban Race would pit teams of two from the various federal agencies and local police departments against each other, testing both physical and mental acuity. Hetty described it as team building. Eric described it as cruel and unusual punishment. Kensi was already trying to strategize with Deeks over beer about the best division of their skills to ensure victory.

"Anyone want to trade partners? Anyone? I'll give you a great deal." This earned him a punch in the arm.

"Actually, we could make this interesting." Nell said, taking a sip of her beer. "Put a little money on it."

"Incentive is the last thing Kensi needs. She's going to suck any possible fun out of this as it is."

"I'm right here. I can hear you." Kensi scolded, her eyes giving away her lack of annoyance. Back for three months, she still hadn't gotten over the happiness of simply being in the same room with him.

"Hetty never said the teams of two had to be our usual partners. As team leader, I think its time for a little switch up. And also as team leader, I'll bite the bullet and take Kensi."

"Seriously, I am sitting at the same table as you guys."

"I call Nellosaurus!" Deeks shouted. Eric and Sam just looked at each other and smiled, knowing that the competition would require both brains and brawn and they perhaps had the best combination.

Deeks was pretty sure that it was Kensi that had tried to push him off the pier on a frantic rush to a clue located at the Ferris wheel, but as he'd been blindfolded at the time, so he couldn't say for sure. Seriously, who came up with this competition? It was probably Hetty, he thought to himself. He and Nell found themselves at Venice beach, they'd seen their counterparts at various points throughout the day, but they were pretty sure they had beat them to this point. They were also pretty sure they saw the finish line, half a mile down the beach. Rules dictated that both of them needed to cross the line to complete the challenge. Deeks' longer legs carried him across the sand more easily and he found himself stopping as he got ahead of Nell.

"Go ahead. It will give me more motivation to get there." Nell said gasping for breath from her efforts to keep up with her much taller partner.

He crossed the finish line and turned around. He could see Nell, legs churning through the sand, determination on her face. He could also see Callen and Kensi, who must have reached the beach at some point while he was still focused on the finish line, gaining on Nell. Longer legs really did make a big difference in the sand. As she got closer, he realized that Callen and Kensi weren't going to catch her and that they were going to win. He yelled out words of encouragement, but even though he saw her coming, he didn't brace himself well enough for the momentum behind the hug that came when she crossed the finish line. They both ended up covered in sand, but smiling at their joint accomplishment. Standing as Callen and Kensi crossed the finish line, Deeks turned to Nell and gave her a high five.

"Shaggy and Velma for the win." Deeks said smiling.

"Not so fast Shaggy." Sam came over smiling with four bottled waters. Clearly, having already finished cooling down himself.

"Eh, beat Kensi, still a win in my book." Deeks teasing and smiling, kissing his girlfriend on the head at the same time he was avoiding an elbow to the side.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. 16 –Kensi/Deeks – Puppy piles (Prompt credit: hermionesmydawg)_

The first morning after could have been awkward, but it wasn't. It was actually quite wonderful. Deeks had hugged her from behind as she slowly woke up, kissing the top of her head.

"What time is it?" She asked groggily.

"Early. We have a little time to enjoy this." Nuzzling into her, his beard tickled her neck and she was just about to turn around to kiss him properly when she found herself on the receiving end of a whole other kind of kiss.

"Monty. Get down." Deeks scolded, lazily pushing the dog off the bed. Monty would not be deterred, however, as he frantically circled the room, whimpering.

"You should probably take him for a walk." Seeing the clock for the first time. "And you're a liar, its not that early. I'll jump in the shower while you're out with Monty."

"Was kinda hoping we could do that together this morning." He said, playfully wiggling his eyebrows as he pulled on his boxer.

"We can save that for next time." Kensi said playfully. "I'll make the coffee and start breakfast too."

"You'll put poptarts in the toaster. I'm not sure that qualifies as breakfast."

"Go walk your dog." Deeks just let that one hang in the air, smiling at her.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. God Deeks, good to see some things aren't going to change." Making her way to the bathroom, she gave him one last kiss.

All Deeks could think was that Monty was taking his sweet-ass time on the walk this morning. It seemed like a lifetime before he was opening his apartment door again and unclipping Monty's leash. It must have also seemed like a lifetime for Monty, because the dog had completely forgotten that his favorite person was in the apartment this morning. Barreling towards Kensi, who had managed to shower, put on her spare clothes from her go-bag and, as promised, make coffee. She was holding two mugs, smiling as Monty launched at her, full speed. Because she had no hands free she was unable to fend off the overexcited dog and before Deeks could yell for Monty to stop, both cups of coffee were all over his partner and dog as the pair and the mugs, ended up on the floor.

"Bad dog!" Deeks grabbed Monty's collar and put him in the bedroom and went back to help Kensi clean up the mess.

The calm that had graced them that morning in bed was now completely gone. He sprayed Resolve on the rug while Kensi worked frantically in the kitchen, trying to get the coffee out of her white T-shirt.

"This was my only spare shirt." She said in a defeated tone as Deeks returned, throwing out paper towels. "There's no time for me to make it home before work." Finally looking him in the eyes, he could see her panic.

"Kens, it'll be ok. I'll go in before you, grab coffee on my way. You can stay here as long as you need to and try to get the shirt clean. Worst that happens, you put on your shirt from yesterday." She let him kiss her on the head.

"They'll know." She said more sadly then he was expecting.

"We'll just have to play it as cool as possible." He said jokingly as he grabbed his keys off the coffee table. "Please let Monty out of the bedroom when you're ready not to kill him. I'll see you at work. Everything will work out; we'll be fine; you'll see." Little did he know how both wrong and right that statement could be.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Nope, not an alternative universe :). Still not mine 8 – Densi –Near Miss Hug (Prompt credit: sunshine-and-gunpowder)_

This was their first undercover assignment since Kensi's return. The case was pretty cut and dry, but it still required an operation in a location with too many bystanders and variables for the teams liking. Nell and Eric were in ops, using overwatch to track the suspect. Callen and Sam were on their way to the Santa Monica pier from the boathouse, after getting information from the one half of this dynamic terrorist duo. Kensi and Deeks were on point already at the pier, trying to look casual as they scanned the crowd for the suspect Nell assured them was close by.

Arms wrapped around each other in a close embrace, they appeared to be engrossed in each other, even though they were using their distractingly intimate position to allow each partner to scan in each direction without looking suspicious. It was Deeks that spotted the suspect first, but they were unprepared for his backup. Backup that clearly had their pictures. It was not their cover that had been blown. The mistake had been thinking there were only two suspects.

Without thinking, arms still wrapped around each other, Kensi grabbed for the Baretta, Deeks for the Sig. Seamlessly, they turned back-to-back, circling slowly as they watched the opposing team get into position. They were out in the open, so taking a shot wasn't an option.

"Agents, be reasonable here. Put the guns down. We don't want any more bloodshed today."

"Reasonable? Mr. ImgoingtoblowupLA wants us to be reasonable?" Deeks jokes.

"Callen and Sam just arrived. Hold out just a little longer." Eric, in their ear, gave them a bit of hope.

If asked either one of them what happened after Eric's assurance that the senior team was there for backup, they couldn't have told you, but Deeks had ended up in the water and Kensi had ended up with a bullet graze to the shoulder.

She was getting bandaged up in the ambulance when Deeks made his way over to her, still wet from his impromptu swim.

"Didn't lose my gun in the ocean, did you? I knew I should have bought you that leash." Kensi tried to tease, as she could see the tenseness radiating off of him. As soon as the medic finished, he silently enveloped her in a bonecrushing hug.

"I can't lose you. I just got you back." And she squeezed back, just as hard. There was no way she could lose him either.


	5. Chapter 5

13 –Sleep –Densi (Prompt Credit: mockingjaylane, characters belong to CBS/Shane Brennan/other people who are not me)

_"Kiss me like your lover instead of just your wife." –Carter's Chord_

The morning light began seeping through the blinds, easing her into consciousness long before her alarm clock went off. Lying still in the silence, facing away from her companion, she played with the slim gold band on her finger. Listening to the shift in the pattern of his breathing, she knew he too had woken with the sun. The weight of her ring had long ago become familiar and natural but she couldn't quite pinpoint when that had shifted from being a comfort to just being comfortable.

At the beginning, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. They had gravitated towards each other, even in the early days of partnership and friendship. They were comfortable as friends and partners, denying those who saw their proximity, mistaking it for something else. And it had taken a giant leap of faith on his part to jolt them out of that comfort zone. It was only in the early days (day) of their relationship that they had avoided contact and that had just been awkward, like they didn't know how to handle not touching each other. Ironic that _not _touching had given away that they'd crossed the line. And when she had returned from their forced separation, remaining professional at the office, limiting contact to a shoulder brush or a reassuring hand on the small of her back had taken all of their willpower. Once they got home it was all the fire and passion you'd expect from some sort of cheesy romance novel - as much as she loathed to admit it, because she always swore she'd never be one of those people.

And then, a while later, they'd decided on the spur of the moment wedding and it was city hall on a Friday afternoon and laughing at everyone's shocked faces Monday morning. And life continued on as normal and slowly, almost imperceptibly, the passion faded and she had resigned herself to becoming another cliché. But she didn't want to be. There was no denying that there was no imagining life without him. So entwined in each other's identities, they'd simply started to take it for granted and if she, if they, didn't do something soon, they'd lose what had made them special.

They were Deeks and Kensi; that meant push and pull, antagonistic and challenging - mostly for the better, the contest was usually enjoyable. But it wasn't supposed to be easy and it certainly shouldn't ever be boring. And yet here they were, on a Monday morning, with an hour to kill, facing away from each other, both awake and neither moving. He'd been the brave one in the early stages of their relationship; it was her turn, she told herself, to get them out of this rut. Turning over, she closed the space between them, wrapping her arm around his waist and kissing his shoulder.

"I know you're awake." She said matter-of-factly, kissing her way up his shoulder and to his neck before he shifted to face her. Kissing him full on the lips with a passion that she'd been ignoring for too long, she whispered suggestively, "I can think of a pretty good way to start the day." She felt, rather than saw his lips spread into a smile. He'd never been able to deny her anything she asked for.

They showed up 30 minutes late for work, Granger's disapproving look cutting through the Mission, making her squirm just a little. But she was pretty sure she preferred being just a little uncomfortable.


End file.
